MOVIE REVIEW: Deneuve delights in 'On My Way'

Sunday

Apr 27, 2014 at 12:01 AMApr 28, 2014 at 7:31 AM

Catherine Deneuve, like she's done numerous times before, disappears into the role, injecting nuance and depth into a woman who's utterly generic on the page but radiates life and resolve on the screen.

By Al AlexanderFor The Patriot Ledger

Catherine Deneuve doesn’t stretch much to play a former beauty queen reflecting on her past and embracing her future in the charming French road movie “On My Way.” But boy does she sell her character, a recently jilted owner of a struggling Concarneau cafe she shares with her domineering mother. Deneuve, like she’s done numerous times before, disappears into the role, injecting nuance and depth into a woman who’s utterly generic on the page but radiates life and resolve on the screen.

Director Emmanuelle Bercot, who co-wrote the script with Jerome Tonnerre, owes every ounce of her movie’s success to Deneuve and her vivid portrayal of Bettie, a seemingly lost soul who suddenly finds new direction when she up and decides to go for a drive. She sets out to buy cigarettes – a vice her 80-something mother (Claude Gensac) continually harps about – and just keeps driving. And with each mile, the farther she distances herself from a miserable, stagnant existence, a life marred not just by a two-timing lover, but also a failed marriage and a long estrangement from her bitter daughter and precocious grandson.

A declaration of independence is delivered the morning after an impromptu – and much needed – one-night stand with a much younger man. So instead of returning to her old, humdrum life, Bettie opts to hop back in her car and head in the opposite direction, finding a new, life-affirming experience seemingly around every corner. These adventures comprise the film’s more entertaining, sharply observed first half. Then Bercot cops out for something as horish and contrived as a mother and daughter reunion, albeit a strained one. It begins out of the blue when Bettie’s only child, Muriel (French pop star Camille), inexplicably calls and asks her mother to help baby-sit her son Charly (Nemo Schiffman, Bercot’s real-life child) while she’s in Belgium for a few days on a job interview.

Bettie’s seemingly simple job is to deliver the kid to his paternal grandfather a few hundred kilometers away. But fate and a contrived screenplay repeatedly intervene. At first, Bettie and Charly are at odds, but predictably begin to thaw after the lad convinces Granny to swallow her pride and attend a swanky beauty queen reunion, something the former Miss Brittany has steadfastly refused to do.

Not only does the reunion prove poignant for Bettie, it also presents a lovely opportunity to reflect on the 70-year-old Deneuve’s fantastic career and how the once beautiful young star has aged as gracefully as her acting. It fills you with nostalgia and appreciation for Deneuve, but also makes you feel a bit old, as you reflect on your own mortality. The reunion segment occupies but 10 minutes of the movie, but its resonance is endless. It’s just a shame the rest of the film isn’t as sharp and meaningful.

Deneuve makes it relatively easy though to forgive such flaws, as she effortlessly exudes charm and gravitas, even during the sappy, neatly tied-up finale. She’s a movie star in every sense of the word. And the chance to once again spend time with this lovely, charismatic actress is worth making like Bettie and driving miles just to savor the experience.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.